To Win The Game
by yupimTHATkid
Summary: AU: Strider gets addicted to a new MMORPG that leads him to new friends, both distant and near, and maybe even something more. Can he tackle this new Quest and come out victorious? Or is a certain blue clad boy just too dense for his own good? DaveJohn M for language and some other stuff later on. :)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! This is my first HS fanfic and I'm having a lot of fun writing it. This is really an intro chapter which is why it's so wordy. (at least in my opinion) Be forewarned; this is a DaveJohn fanfic, though if it's just fluff or more has yet to be decided. :)**

*******Disclaimer: I don't own Homestuck or any of its characters. This is for fun and not profit.*******

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><p><strong>Be the COOL dude with SHADES.<strong>

You are now the cool dude with the shades. Otherwise known as Dave Strider. You are currently sitting cross-legged on your bro's futon smashing buttons on a game controller mercilessly. Some would call it button mashing, but you tend to prefer to think of it as a strategic randomness that gives you the advantage on the battlefield. There's a flash of black across the giant TV that's projecting your game and, with one final random tap of buttons, a shining white box appears on screen with trumpets playing in the background.

"YES!" Throwing up your hands, you give into a moment of triumph before recomposing yourself. You push up your shades with a stoic face and accept the loot you got from the latest dungeon you cleared. Normally, you wouldn't be caught dead playing some dorky MMORPG with its silly quests and seriously lame NPCs. But, Bro had gotten it for your eighteenth birthday for some reason, probably an ironic reason, so you had decided to show him up one and play it for, you know it, ironic reasons. However, you hadn't counted on this game becoming super addictive.

The clock down the hall gives of four chimes followed by the squeak of a plush Smuppet. Damn, you've been at this for nearly eight hours straight for the third night in a row. That's like, an entire day of sitting in front of this screen watching your fully customized character run around like an idiot killing monsters and saving the kingdom from internal enemies.

That's nothing. You and your Bro had spent triple that on some other shitty games. If you stopped playing now, it'd look weak. Ha, not this Strider. But, there's no harm in stopping for a breather and some AJ.

You get off the futon and stretch before heading to the kitchen to grab a couple of AJ bottles. Down the hall, your Bro's workroom door is still shut, but you can see a line of light coming from under. He must still be working on whatever projects he had to do for whatever his job was. What was it? Building robots or something? All you know is that the Smuppet thing was sort of a pass-time. A really freaky pass-time that lacked any quality ironicness, or had too much, but hey; if it kept Apple Juice in the fridge and pizza on the counter, who were you to complain? Except when you were up to your nose in plushy Smuppet ass. But that's a different story.

You have to admit you are glad Bro's in his workroom since it means you get to use his unnecessarily large flat-screen TV to play your game on. When he's not, you have to make deal with your normal sized flat screen in your room. No way are you playing this in the living room where Bro could see you play. Fuck that. You'd wait until you reached an insane level before letting your Bro know and then brush it off nonchalantly.

Once back on the futon, you try to find a comfortable sitting position that will last you another few hours or so of game play. Taking a breath, you let your eyes roam around the screen and double check the sweet loot you had just received. You're pretty surprised, not that you show it, but there were some real quality items in your Inventory now, you won't have to sell all of it. One item in particular catches your attention; Holy Knight's Cape. The stats on that item nearly blow your sunglasses off. Nearly.

"Damn." Health +150, Agility +100, Intelligence +20, Strength +100

Whoever heard of a cape giving you Intelligence? You shrug it off, it was just a game. You Equip the cape and gaze over your character approvingly.

You had chosen one of the strongest Classes, the Knight Class and were finally at level 70. Your character, named DJtimeturner, is clad in silver and red armor with his wicked sword at his hip. This being some weird, magical middle-ages type game, the character options hadn't included any eyewear so you had simply donned a simply Knight's helmet that conveniently covered your blond hair and eyes and, with your new cape, looked too cool for words.

Getting back to the game, you decide to head to one of the villages that were spread all around the kingdom to sell some of your stuff since your Inventory was getting a bit too full. It had taken you a while to get use to all the other people running around like noobs, showing off attacks in the middle of the village in their bright colored and usually mismatched clothing items. Sighing in real life, you navigate your character to an NPC that has 'Merchant' stamped above his head. Before you can click on him to interact, a flash of blue catches your eyes.

Using one of the joysticks to move the camera, but not your character, you swivel until you find that bright patch of blue that had seemed to fly across your screen. There, over by a creepy looking NPC selling potion, was an avatar that was clad head to toe in bright sky blue. Its hair was black as far as you could tell and the creator hadn't really paid much attention to the build of their character; it was pretty thin and looked like he hadn't bothered changing the height from the default which is the shortest height in the game. Curious, use click on the 'Inspect' option for him to take a peek at his stats.

"Holy fuck!" You have a blink a couple of times before you're sure the information in front of you isn't going to change. "Holy fuckin' _hell._"

This dude was more than double your level with stats that you didn't even know could exist.

"Don't they cap the levels anymore?" You mumble as you scroll further down the character's info. The name seems to be WindInherent and he is from the Magic Class with an Elemental Sub-Class. Urgh, you had a long way to go if you wanted to even get to this guy's level. You were too busy grumbling to yourself that you hadn't noticed the blue kid had come to stand next to you and had typed a quick message that appeared as a speech bubble over his head.

W: hello :B

W: hello?

Damn.

D: sorry, i was a bit busy.

You type out a quick reply. It was a real pain using this stupid controller to send messages when a keyboard would have worked so much better.

D: sup?

W: i just wanted to say that i thought your cape was cool :B

W: did you get it in the dungeon with the giant chimera?

D: thanks and yeah. it was pretty easy.

W: hahaha it took me forever to get through that one

D: really? i guess it would be harder for some classes.

You frown at your sentence. That sounded snooty even to you.

D: i didnt mean it like that man.

W: :B its all good. knight classes are super strong. it took a while for me to deal a decent amount of damage.

Sitting back, you wonder why you feel so calm. Usually you'd hate talking to random assholes that showed up everywhere in this game, but this dude seemed pretty chill. It was nice not having to frantically swivel the stupid joystick around an on screen keyboard to type out angry rants at other players who were probably no older than seven.

W: so how about it?

"Shit, what?" You scroll up the chat box in the corner that records what each character says to see what you had missed. That's stupid; he wanted to do a quest with you.

D: you do realize that im like several many levels under you right?

W: its all fine! :B

W: this quest is for all levels, but they say you get partner bonuses if you go in with a group! neat right?

You ponder this for a second.

D: i havent heard of this quest before

W: its super new! only a couple players

W: oops!

W: do you mind if we switch to a PM for the rest of this? :/

D: uh sure

D: do you want me to add you or never mind

A small box pops up on your screen announcing WindInherent has sent you a friend request. Taking a breath, you hit accept before you can change your mind. Almost immediately, another request pops up asking if you'd like to join WindInherent's Private Chat. Accepting again, a chat box opens up in the corner of your screen where normally the public box would be.

W: alright, like i was saying, only a few players actually know about it since the information leaked early.

W: no one was supposed to know for another three days but one of my friends got an early scoop :B

D: is the quest even up yet?

W: yup! we checked it out earlier today to make sure. we just wanted to stock up on healing potion and stuff before we go in to kick some monster ass!

D: you keep saying 'we'

W: oh! like i said, you get a bonus for going in as a group so two of my other friends that play are going. so far its just the three of us :B

D: and you want me to come too?

You raise your eyebrow. It just seemed too odd that some player would randomly come up to you and invite you on a quest that wasn't even supposed to be officially active for another three days. This kid could either be real fishy or just really freakin lucky.

W: well, i mean, you seem cool…

D: cool's not gonna win your quest, bro. i don't wanna be that guy that weighs down the group cause im still some sucky ass low level without a sub-class.

W: no! you wont! i think youd do great in the dungeon. knight classes have a lot of strength and are great melee types

D: dude, chill, its not like this is life or death here.

D: well, at least no real-life life or death or whatever

D: you know

W: i know, but i thought it'd be cool to have you on our team

Another cocked eyebrow. You feel a smirk threatening your lips.

D: sure. ill do it

W: :B

W: YAY!

W: cool. we wont go in until tomorrow and you can meet my friends. can you get on around the same time tomorrow?

Pulling out your cell, you grimace as the white light shine the time in your face. Through your shades, you can see the time is 4:46 am. Maybe if you slept during the day? But there was school tomorrow…or today. You could sleep through a few classes, which was nothing new.

D: sure. but just letting you know, this is hella freakin early for me. ill be up for the butt-crack of dawn and all its shitty morning glory. if i fall down the stairs cause i cant see a damn thing just know it was for this quest. kay bro?

W: …

W: o…k?

W: its super early for me too. its my friends who are on a weird schedule

W: though i guess i cant complain, i just moved so i might still be running on a different time set :B

How happy-go-lucky was this guy? But despite that thought, you again feel your lips twitch. Stifling the feeling, you send another message.

D: really? just how early?

W: its like I dont know around 4:50 in the morning here?

D: your joking?

W: nope. thats what the clock on my laptop says.

D: damn

W: whats up?

D: we might be in the same time zone dude. thats the same time i got here

W: hehehe wow maybe we live in the same place

D: ok that i hardly doubt

W: why?!

D: cause i think i would remember seeing a dorky mmorpg player who plans raids on dungeons walking around

W: i am not dorky!

D: B/

W: well, maybe…but not really

D: im playin dude. but seriously, i doubt the chances of us living within a hundred miles of each other

W: oh well. it would have been cool to know someone else who played this game

W: but i guess i better go. school in the morning

W: or later today…

D: ya dude, see you later.

WindInherent's avatar blinks out of existence and his status goes to Offline. You figure it wouldn't hurt to grind for a bit longer before calling it quits. Selling your junk, you head for an open field that spawns different monsters depending on the hour. It seems like it some weird tree monster of sorts this time around. You make quick work of several before you notice a flashing mail icon on your menu. Making for cover, you quickly flip it open. It's from that blue dude.

"hey dude, forget to give you my friends' character names. they're PsychoticShrink and SquiddleLUV. :B they're both really cool too. oh! and if you have a pesterchum, you can pester me at ectoBiologist. they added a new feature to the app that lets you voice chat and that's what we were planning on using. if you don't want to, its fine and we can still use the PM system. see you tomorrow! :B"

You're a bit shocked that he actually gave you his handle. Had no one talked to this kid about online safety? But, you can't help that you're a bit happy that you get to be part of something that seems even remotely fun, even if it's in this nerdy game. You'll go along with for ironic reasons. But that means actually being awake for it, so you decide to exit out of the game and gather everything you had brought with you. You're pretty shocked you only downed one bottle of AJ, you guess Wind-dude took up more of your attention than you thought.

Instead of putting things where they belong, you simply walk into your room, toss the stuff into a pile to one side of your desk where it is hidden to those that walked into your room. You're already in your red-pant pajamas so all you have to do is remove your shades and flop down on your bed. Tomorrow felt like it was going to be a long day.

Who would have thought that a Strider like you would get sucked into a game like this? Well, if it meant meeting people like Windy, it couldn't be so bad could it?


	2. Chapter 2

**Alrighty then. Here's Ch 2! It's a bit shorter but it was fun to do. **

*******Disclaimer: I dont own Homestuck or anything. This is for fun and not profit.*******

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><p><strong>Be GRUMPY and DISGRUNTLED<strong>

You don't have to try very hard. All night long you had tossed and turned in your sleep, waking up from weird dreams where you were your character from that cheesy MMORPG you'd been playing. You neck and legs felt stiff from sitting in one position too long and you silently hoped Bro wouldn't want to strife first thing in the morning. Slowly, you make your way down stairs.

"Sup lil man." You find your Bro sitting on the couch in the living room with an empty plate lying on his lap. He must have just finished breakfast.

"Sup." Walking over to the fridge, you grab another cold AJ. Yeah, there were plenty still in your room from last night but you needed something cold. It's actually difficult to suppress your sigh of relief after you down the first bottle.

"Hey bro," You turn your eyes ever so slightly to look at your Bro. Even behind the shades, he knew he had your attention. "You doin' alright there? You're lookin' kind of pale. Well, paler." He gives his own Strider's smirk. Sometimes you think he's too quick.

"Nah man, I'm fine. Just stayed up a bit last night." Two and a half AJs down, you turn to gather your backpack that you leave in the front entry way. "Later."

"Later. And Dave," This time you turn fully around; it's not like him to use that type of voice. "Don't push yourself too hard, aight?" Emotions war inside. Smile? No. Smirk? Eh. Reply? Maybe.

"Don't worry about me, Bro." Deciding that throwing in a smirk wouldn't be too bad, you let one cross your lips. "I'm good." Bro just nods and gets up to take his plate to the sink that was already overflowing with dirty dishes. Taking that as an ok and dismissal, you once again turn to exit your shared apartment and trek your way to school.

**At the School**

If staying awake in class wasn't already hard, going off of two hours of sleep made it even more difficult. Glancing at the clock that hung above the projector, you stifle yet another yawn before the teacher can catch you. Not even noon yet. Two boring classes down, six to go.

It's going to be a long day.

With the teacher giving a monotonous lecture about how the ancient Aztecs did something or other, you're able to let your mind wonder. You had come up with a really sick beat a couple of days ago and hadn't had time to finish it. Whipping out your beat-up red notebook, you turn to a blank page and begin to work magic with words. When most of the page is covered, you sit back and reread it. Why hadn't you worked on it sooner? It suddenly dawns on you; the game.

You started playing the game almost right after you got the idea for this rap. That gets you thinking; later on you're going to go on a planned dungeon raid with a couple of people you didn't even know. Resisting the urge to drop your head on your desk, you settle for resting you chin in your hand heavily. When had you become such a dork? Cause only a dork would do this sort of thing and completely forget about his sick raps and killer beats to go a frolic in the land of make-believe and quests. What's worse is that you actually do kind of feel…happy? Excited? One of those words, at the idea of getting together with some people and working together.

'Strider, you need a life.' You think to yourself. This all probably wouldn't have happened if you actually had friends to hang out with and do stuff with instead of getting stuck in this ironic war with your Bro and promising some blue dude you'd quest with him.

The teacher still rambling on, you slide your phone out of your pocket and open up your Pesterchum app. You still had the dude's handle saved but you hadn't yet bothered to pester him or add him to your Chum List.

'ectorBiologist, hmmm.' You glance up to make sure the teacher is busy with the board before typing in a quick message.

TG: sup

You put your phone back in your pocket and wait. The dude seemed to be on the same schedule as you so he must be in class right now. Better give him time to-

The phone in your pocket vibrates. Damn that was pretty fast.

EB: hello?

EB: whos this?

TG: this is what happens when you give out your chumhandle to random people you just met

EB: oh! you must be dj something, right?

TG: its DJtimeturner, but yes thats me

EB: huh turntechGodhead, i guess i could have guessed that

EB: :B

This time you really can't help the smirk on your face. This dude was nuts. And what was with that smile emoji? Using a B as a mouth. Really? You can't decide whether that's dumb or sorta cute.

Vibrations shake you out of your daze. Really, what were you just thinking there? You glance down to see the messages EB sent you.

EB: so i cant wait for tonight or tomorrow morning, whichever makes sense

EB: im guessing you dont have anything going on right now since you found time to message me

EB: hello?

TG: sorry. and yes, i am in the middle of something, but it so absolutely boring i want flip a table but decided against it and message you

EB: oh! ok. yeah, im actually in the middle of class right now :B

EB: are you in school?

You start to type out a reply, but the teacher makes a harsh noise, pointedly clearing his throat, that jerks your head up.

"Now is not the time to be playing on your phone, Mr. Egbert." Close call. Looks like some other kid got called out for ignoring the lesson. You let your eyes swing over to the general area the teacher was looking while sliding your phone back into your pocket. Over by the door furthest away from you (you sit in the last chair in the last row) some tiny kid slumps over and pockets his own device before taking his pen up again. Better him than you. But to be on the safe side, you think it's better to hold off on the pestering until you were out of this class.

The rest of the class was torture, or at least close to it. The teacher had gotten super vigilant after the first phone incident and would glare/stare at the kids to make sure they were paying attention. Several more got called out for talking, a couple for staring off in a daze, and one even had a book dropped on his desk because he fell asleep. And, yup, you were that one kid.

Of all the things that could have happened to you, it had to be something this embarrassing. A couple of kids had giggled, but the teacher silenced them with another fierce glare. Glancing up behind your shades so it looked like you were staring at your notebook, you survey the class again and catch something blue.

You do a Strider double-take, which basically means you do nothing but blink once or twice. The kid that had gotten called out first about his phone was looking back at you with a concerned face and, even though your shades put a black film over everything, you can see his super blue eyes. Déjà vu.

'He looks like Windy.' You find yourself think only to frown ever so slightly. Hell nah, there's no way he looked like Wind dude or EB (you really needed to settle on a name for this guy). Just because the kid in class was short with dark hair and blue eyes like WindInherent didn't mean he _was _him. Plenty of people could match that description and it wasn't like he absolutely made his character look like him in real life. Looking again, the kid up front had turned away and was fixing his glasses as he seemed to reread his notes. He _looked _dorky enough to be they type of guy to plan raids in MMORPGs. But that wasn't enough evidence to go on.

The bell mercifully rang signaling your third class was over. The students practically sprinted out of the classroom and you didn't blame them; any longer and you probably would have gotten a book to the head. Gathering your stuff, you take your time since you have early fourth lunch. You hadn't packed your own, and as you counted the money in your pocket, you considered what to get for lunch figuring you could pester EB once you sat down again.

The cafeteria was packed, as always, and the lunch lines seemed to stretch on forever. You really wanted pizza, but that was the longest. Chicken tenders and spaghetti were equally long. Settling for the chalupa line, you grab an assortment of green and red fruit jellos, an extra side of tots, and two bottles of AJ. The chalupas themselves aren't very appetizing, but you figure that you could probably snag something later on during the day.

Then, the unimaginable happens that threatens to completely break your Strider cool.

You're walking through the tables of the cafeteria trying to find a space to sit. You'd never brag about it, but you weren't on the small side when it came to height so things closer to the ground tend to go unnoticed. The first thing that registers is an 'oomph' and the feel of walking into something…very small.

Your tray is pushed into your gut, flips up, and smothers the bean, cheese, and chicken chulupas AND the jellos onto your stomach. Another tray seems to fly at your face and you can suddenly taste the under-cooked spaghetti that was also offered today. The noise of the cafeteria stops in stunned silence and the sound of two trays and slops of food falling to the ground echos. Eye twitching, you look _down._

Glasses. Black hair. Short. Slightly buck teeth. Blue freakin eyes. Eyes that were currently staring at you wide with shock and horror and seemed to get impossibly bigger as he hears you swear quietly. "God fuckin dammit."

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading. :)<strong>


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